Closure device for rendering bottles nonrefillable



.June 1, 1937. w STATTMANN 2,082,267

CLOSURE DEVICE FOR'RENDERING BOTTLES NONREFILLABLE Filed Feb. 1, 1935 2Sheets-Sheet 1 June 1, 1937. 2,082,267

CLOSURE DEVICE FOR RENDERING BOTTLES NONREFILLABLE W. A. STATTMANN FiledFeb. 1, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 a v V structure of the present inventionwill be pointremains immersed in the liquid and upon ad-- 25 PatentedJune I, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CLOSURE DEVICE FOR RENDERINGBOTTLES NONREFILLABLE Walter A. Stattmann, Chicago, Ill.

Application February 1, 1935, Serial No.4,423

1 Claim. (01. 215-30) The invention relates to a closure device Fig. 11is a 1 plan sectional view on the line adapted to be mounted upon thedischarge end I l-Il of Fig. 10. of a bottle or other receptacle forrendering It has been attempted heretofore to render such bottle orreceptacle incapable of being rebottles non-refillable by applyingthereto valved filled after the contents thereof have been exclosuredevices of which there are many examhausted. ples' in the art, made ofvarious materials and The main object of the present invention iswherein a gravity operated valve similar to a to provide a simple,relatively inexpensive and check valve is employed to prevent refillingof efficient device of this character, wherein rethe bottle and whereinthe valve has been ren- 0 filling of the bottle equipped with theclosure dered inaccessible to a wire or other tool to device isincapable of being accomplished, either maintain the same off its seatduring bottle remechanically or by the employment of vacuum fillingoperations.

means for first exhausting air from the bottle The valves of prior artstructures also have and then causing the same to refill itself byreabeen relied upon to prevent the refilling of the son of such vacuum.bottle by the very common expedient of invert- 15 A further object ofthe invention is to proing the bottle equipped with the closure devicevide a closure device of the character set forth in a sealed tankcontaining a given level of which, per se, is assembled at the place ofmanuthe liquid to be introduced into the bottle and facture and which isshipped in assembled form then, by applying vacuum pump to the tank,

to the distillers or bottlers for mounting of same exhausting the airfrom the same and likewise,- on the bottle in the condition in which thedeof course, from the inverted bottle until a very vice is received fromthe factory. high degree of vacuum, as for example, equal to Furtherobjects of the invention relating 'to thirty degrees of mercury, hasbeen obtained. specific advantages and characteristics of the Duringthis operation the neck of the bottle ed out in or fully understood fromthe following mitting air to the tank so that atmospheric specification:pressure is restored gradually, the said liquid The invention may beembodied variously and is caused to fiow into the bottle in an obviousseveral embodiments thereof are illustrated in manner while the Valvecontrolling the discharge the accompanying drawings, wherein, port ofvalve structure is maintained off its seat 30 Fig. 1 is a fragmentary,vertical, longitudinal by gravity or by mechanical means. section of theupper or discharge end portion Many of the prior art closure deviceshave of a bottle neck equipped with a closure device been successfullyconstructed so as to prevent constructed in accordance with the presentinaccess to the valve by a wire or other device vention, the said devicebeing shown in central, for the purpose of holdingit from its seatdurlongitudinal section. ing refilling operations, but few, if any haveFig. 2 is a plan sectional view of the sam been able to defeat thesuccess of the abovetaken on the line 22 of Fig. 1. described method ofeffecting discharge of liquid Fig. 3 is a plan sectional view taken onthe from the bottle that the valve controlling the line 6-6 of Fig. 1.discharge port shall open very easily and to 40 Fig. 4 is a view in sideelevation of one of that end a very light valve which reseats by thevalves employed in the structure, the same gravity upon restoring thebottle to uprightpobeing shown partly in section. sition has beenrequired.

Figs. 5 and 6 are perspective. views of the In the instance of thepresent invention the said valve. filling of the bottle by resorting tothe afore- 45 Fig. 7 is a perspective view of another of the said vacuummethod as Well as by merely mevalves employed in the structure, the samebeing chanically maintaining the valves from their shown partly insection. seats is obviated as will appear more particu- Fig. 8 is a.view similar to Fig. 1 showing anlarly by reference to the drawings andfrom other or modified embodied of the invention. the followingdescription. Whlere means for 50 Fig. 9 isa plan section of the sametaken on preventing access to the valve have been prothe line 9-9 ofFig. 8. posed, the freedom of flow from the bottle has Fig. 10 is a viewsimilar to Fig. 8 illustrating been reduced to such an extent as todefeat in another modification of construction of the delarge measureall the advantages of the strucvice. I ture. To provide an efiective.closure of the 55 type to which the invention relates which assures freedischarge from the bottle constitutes another object of the invention.

The closure device comprises an outer sheet metal cap (I) which normallycomprises a substantially cylindrical skirt portion terminating at itsupper end in an inwardly projecting annular flange (2) bordering acentral opening (3). Mounted within said cap or shell (I) is a valvecasing (4) composed preferably of a suitable vitreous material such asglass or porcelain.

Said valve casing is cylindrical and preferably is open at its lowerend. It is equipped at its upper end with a discharge spout (5) which is0011-;

centric with the body or circumferential wall of said casing. Projectinginwardly from the said circumferential wall of the casing is a series ofequal spaced-apart longitudinal ribs (6) extending radially from andwhich are integral with said circumferential wall and also, at theirupper ends, with the top wall ('I) of the valve casing. Said ribs are ofgreater length, radially at their upper than at their' lower ends, or inother words, have inner edges which converge toward each other from thelower end of the casing to the lower face of the upper wall (1) of thesame. It will be noted that the said inner edges of the ribs (6) y aredisposed outwardly of the orifice of the discharge spout (5) and arenormally spaced from the circumferential face of the valve (8) whichconsists of a, truncated cone, the base of which is adapted to rest upona washer or disk (9) which constitutes a removable bottom wall for thevalve chamber. and a seat for the valve. In the instance illustrated,the said L bottom wall disk or washer (9) bears against the annularshoulder (I0) between the thicker upper end portion of thecircumferential wall of the valve chamber and the thinner lower endportion (II) of said wall. The length of, the said thinner portion isgreater than the thickness of the disk or washer (9) andis adapted toreceive the upper annularly flanged portion (I2) of the second valvecasing (I3) which is also cylindrical and projects in part into the neck(I4) of the bottle. The valve casing (I3) is also composed preferably ofa vitreous material such as glass or porcelainand is open at its upperend so that the disk or washer (9) constitutes the upper wall of saidvalve chamber (I3) which communicates with the valve casing (4) throughthe central orifice (I5) of said disk or Washer (9).

In the bottom wall (II) of the casing '(I3) there is a central opening(I8) through which liquid contained in the bottle is discharged into thevalve chamber of the casing (I3) and thus into the valve chamber of thecasing (4) and thence through the discharge spout (5). Mounted on the.lower wall of the chamber of easing (I3) is a washer (I9) which may becomposed of cork or other relatively soft material which forms a seatfor the valve (20). The latter also is composed preferably of glass orother vitreous material and is'sufilciently light or of a specificgravity so low as to enable the same to 'be moved easily to its seat,when the bottle is inverted, by fiow of fluid into the bottle throughthe closure structure.

As shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5, the said valve (20) comprises acylindrical base portion (2|) whichis equipped with a bottom recess (22)and which, at the top, presents a plurality of equal and equally spacedradial ribs (23) which define the upper ends of recesses in the valvestructure which presents what might be termed end of the casing (24).

.ent invention. To promote such free flow the intake ends of the severalports through which liquid-passes from the bottle are provided with Wellrounded corners.

The length or height of the valve (20) is only slightly less than thatof the chamber in which it is contained and the diameter of the openingsopposed to upper ends of the valves are such that no part of a valvewill project into such an opening in any position of a valve in itschamber. Upon inverting the bottle for purpose of discharge of liquidfrom the latter, the said valve will tilt up or move partly from itsseat to permit the flow of liquid through the said valve chamber andinto the valve casing (4). The inversion of the bottle results also incausing the valve (8) to move from its seat and thereupon the liquidpassing through the central orifice (I5) will flow through the recessesbetween the ribs (6) and around the valve (4) and thus through thedischarge spout (5)., it being noted that when the valve (8) iscompletely engaged by the inner edges of the ribs (6) there is stillample room for flow of liquid past the upper or outer face of saidValve.

One of the main advantages derived fromthe employment of two valves andtwo valve chambers arranged as illustrated is that access to the valvein the lower chamber by means of a wire or other device, is prevented sothat even though the outer valve is held fromits seat mechanically, theaction of the inner valve cannot. be

interfered with to'permit refilling of the bottle.

In Figs. 8 to 11, inclusive, the structures are illustrated. as modifiedtothe extent that both valves employed therein are identical with thestructures of Figs. 3, 4, and 5 inclusive. In instances where the deviceis made of porcelain, cementing said bottom wall to the circumferentialwall of the valve casing. prior to baking the structure, causes saidbottom to become substantially integral with the circumferential wall,the valve being inserted after drying of the valve casing (24) andbefore said bottom wall (25) is mounted in place.

In the instance of the present structures of Figs. 8 to 11 inclusive,the bottom wall (25) may consist of disk of any kind of materialsimilarly to the disk (9) of Fig. 1, or the disk (26) may be of adiameter as great as that of the casing (24). If said disk (26) iscomposed of a flexible material, it may be of greater diameter than theinner diameter of the shell (I) and thus afford another fluid tightjoint in the assembly of the component elements of the completestructure.

Thelower valve casing (21) has a cylindrical wallequipped at its upperend with an outwardly extending annular flange (28) which bears againstthe washer (26) or against the lower Said casing (21) is also providedwith a lower inwardly extending annular flange (29) upon which a valveseat- III) washer (30) of suitable flexible material such as cork, isused.

The operation of the structure of Figs. 8 to 11 inclusiive, issubstantially identical with that of the structure of Fig. 1 so that arepetition of description of operation will not be required.

In the several embodiments shown, the valve casings are slipped into thecylindrical shell of the cap (I) and a packing Washer (3|), of cork orother suitable material, having a central opening of slightly lessdiameter than the outer diameter of the casings (l3) and (21),respectively, is forced over said casings to bear against the annularflange at the upper end of each thereof so as to firmly engage saidcasing. The said washer is also of appreciably greater outer diameterthan the inner diameter of the shell of the cap (I) so that it must becrowded into the latter under a very appreciable degree of force orpressure and thus serves to hold the several casings very firmly inproper relative positions within the said cap before the structures aremounted on the bottle neck.

The structures are shipped from the factory to the bottlingestablishment in their completely assembled condition and, upon receiptof the same, are mounted on the bottles by inserting the bottle neckinto the mouth portion of the shell of the cap (I) and applying pressureto vertically compress the said washer (3|) and to maintain the samecompressed while the mouth portion of the skirt of the cap is spun orotherwise contracted to engage in the annular bead (33) which bordersthe bottle mouth.

The several valves of the structures are rendered as hollow as possibleand are of such specific gravity that they will be moved easily to theirseats responsively to flow of liquid into the bottle as hereinbeforedescribed and thus any attempt to refill bottles after exhaustion of theoriginal contents will be defeated and this is rendered particularlytrue by reason of the fact that the soft seat for the valve in the innervalve casing of each structure permits said valve to hermetically sealthe bottle without requiring opposed ground surfaces to be provided.

The soft valve seat of the inner valve casing is of a slightly largerdiameter than the inner diameters of the casings in which it is receivedand is forced into place and held there by friction.

In the manufacture of the structures of Fig. 1 and Fig. 8, respectively,wherein the valve casings are composed of porcelain or similar vitreonematerial, the valve casings and valves are dried preparatory to entryinto the kiln and with respect to the outer valve casing and the diskconstituting the bottom closure thereof, a thin film of moist clay maybe disposed between the opposed surfaces after the valve has beeninserted. This forms a bond which renders said casing and disksubstantially homogeneous with each other in the firing.

The necessity of providing a soft seat for the valve of the inner valvecasing requires that the latter be fired before the seat washer isinserted but thereafter said inner valve chamber, particularly in thecase of the structure of Fig. l, is

substantially welded to the outer valve casing by means of anoxyacetylene flame jet impinging upon the meeting edges of the flange ofthe inner casing and the surrounding portion of the circumferential wallof the outer casing, this operation being accomplished very quickly toproduce two or three spaced apart spot welds.

Resort to the foregoing method of producing a. completely assembledvalved structure at the pottery is very advantageous as it prevents lossor displacement of component parts thereof in the event that the packingwasher which assembles said structure with the metal cap should fail tohold the parts in assembled relation in transit from the factory to thebottling plant.

It will be noted also that the valve controlled openings of the valvecasings are rounded at their intake corners for cooperation with thevalves of the types shown to promote free flow of liquid from thebottle. The diameter of said openings is so much smaller than that ofthe valves below the same as to obviate all possibility of a valveprojecting in part into such an opening in event that it becomes tiltedin moving from its seat andthus possibly becoming caught or jammedagainst reseating.

It will be noted that the valve in the upper chamber of Fig. 1 will moveby gravity to closed position, by cooperation with the ribs of saidchamber, before, or just about the time that the bottle reaches asubstantially horizontal position when the same is being restored toupright position. This is advantageous in preventing refilling of thebottle.

I claim as my invention:

Mechanism for rendering a bottle non-refillable comprising a cap, thelatter and the bottle equipped with inter-engaged formations forpermanently securing said cap upon the bottle, a cup of vitreousmaterial equipped with a peripheral flange along its rim and with acentral opening in its bottom wall, a packing washer disposed betweensaid flange and the rim of the bottle mouth, a gravity actuated valve insaid cup for maintaining the said opening normally sealed, said valvebeing of small diameter than said cup and capable of lateral movementtherein, said valve equipped at its upper end with a plurality of radialribs defined by radial recesses each presenting a continuous concavesurface vanishing in an upper V-shaped surfacel at the junction of saidribs and extending at a downward incline to a point adjacent the bottomsurface of said valve and being of sharply increasing widthprogressively from the middle portion to the peripheral surface of saidvalve. a disk having a central opening disposed over said cup and spacedtherefrom a distance substantially greater than the height of said valveand confining the latter within said cup, a second similar valve mountedupon said disk, an inverted cup member equipped with a central dischargespout at its upper end and cooperating with said disk to effectconfinement of said second valve similarly to said first-named valve,said respective cups being mounted within said cap.

WALTER A. STATTMANN.

